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American Spirit II - Day 299; Last Full Day in Reunion; We Visit the Roland Garros Restaurant; & Dinner at Rigger Ben's House; Friday, October 31, 2014



Jeremy is up at 5:35 AM; followed by me at 5:40 AM. Joel sleeps in until 7:45 AM.

Breakfast at 8:00 AM: eggs; potato; fruit cocktail; and French bread.

After breakfast we put stuff away; filled boat water tank using hose with large charcoal filter; installed whisker pole back on mast; returned laundry room key; called car rental location and extended car for one more day; paid the bill for the E-80 chip reader part and installation; and used the internet at the rigger's office to send out some logs and receive email.

We left the wharf area in the car at 11:00 AM to go to the Jumbo mall to go to an ATM there; and get haircuts. After waiting in a 'coiffure' salon for 45 mimutes, we left as it was taking longer to get our haircuts than promised.

At 12:45 PM we're in St. Denise, about 30 minutes north of Le Port. There we eat lunch at the Le Roland Garros Restaurant. The stadium where the French Open Tennis tournament is held is named after Roland Garros. By reading a memorial statue of him next to the restaurant and looking his name up in the internet, I find out that his claim to fame is as an aviator. He wasn't a tennis star, so why was the tennis stadium named after him? Turns out he was born in Reunion; was the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea; was a fighter pilot in WW I; was the first to put metal plates on a propeller to allow a machine gun to be fired thru the propeller; shot down 3 German planes; was shot down or ran out of fuel and was captured by the Germans and spent 3 years in a POW camp; escaped from the POW camp; shot down one more German plane, making his total 4, 1 less than Ace status; and then was shot down and killed 5 weeks before the war ended. The tennis stadium was named after him because when the land for the stadium was donated, the donator stipulated that the name be based on someone like Garros, not a tennis star. The main airport in Reunion is also named 'Roland Garros.'

We had steak and fries for lunch, plus escargot as an appetizer first. This was Jeremy's first time eating snails, and he very much liked the culinary experience.

Back at the car by 2:00 PM, we then found a Post Office, purchased some stamps and then mailed the post cards at a mail box away from the post office. Go figure.

We're back at the boat by 3:50 PM, and then Joel and I are off to the Dodo Restaurant for the 4:00 PM Skipper's meeting. The meeting is hosted by Joel from Rally control and is over by 4:40 PM. Topics covered include: the start will be a gate start between 10:00 AM and noon Saturday; sailing to a waypoint (27 degrees South; 47 degrees East) south of Madagascar to bypass any currents near there; to avoid a shoal area in the approach to the Zululand Marina in Richard's Bay, South Africa; that the Agulhas Current runs from 27 degrees South to 40 degrees South and follows the 200 meter line; and that a safari tour will be held on November 11 and 13.

At 5:10 PM I attend a French mass being held on NDS Darwin; and then at 6:10 PM we're off to rigger Ben's house for dinner. The road is so 'difficult' to his house, the last 1 1/2 miles, that we leave our car and are driven the last 1 1/2 miles in Ben's car. Dinner consists of steak and fries and salad; plus different cheeses for dessert and a white and red wine; and 'Punch' rum. We have dinner with Ben's better half, Corine; and meet his 8 year old son, who falls asleep before dinner.

We're back at the boat at 10:40 PM, and immediately go to bed. Big day tomorrow.

Brian Fox




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